Trying to keep it as brief as possible, the band had three of the most well regarded albums of the 1980s- 1985s Fear and Whiskey, 1987s Honky Tonkin and 1989s Rock and Roll. Wikipedia lists tons of plaudits contemporary and retroactively- (Best of the Year, Best of the Decade and so on) for these albums from a number of critics and websites like Pitchfork, Robert Christgau, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Allmusic, Village View, Blender and the New York Times.
It was part of that late 80s zeitgeist that the Mekons seemed to be the Rock Music critics’ favorite band. Hard to peg down, if anyone they resembled the Pogues as they merged folk, punk, rock and blues. It was “alt country” before that term existed.
But that momentum didn’t really carry into the 90s. Perhaps, there was really never a chance that they could turn into REM or U2 stadium fillers.
The Mekons continued to make music that critics loved, but 91s Curse of the Mekons wasn’t even released in the US and they soon were dumped by their label, A&M Records. I was in college when “I (Heart) Mekons” came out in 1993. With a focus on love songs in a way only the Mekons could do love songs- I loved the record and it generally still shows up near the top of fans’ ranking of Mekons records.
For whatever reason, I have followed the Mekons pretty closely over the decades. They’re not quite like other bands but they are fascinating. They have yet to have the same effect that they had on me as they had in 93, though critics still seem to love them (though part of that is that it’s quite hard to keep track of them. 2020s Exquisite was only self released as a digital Bandcamp release at first).
So listening to 2025s Horror was at once a surprise and not a surprise. In this case, Horror seems to be the real world and the politics in it. Not a surprise for the Mekons. “The Western Design” is a history of imperialism in pop song form. Titles like “War Economy” and “Private Defense Contractor” are clues that this isn’t normal pop song fare.
I believe there are six vocalists that take lead that are spread throughout, which is fitting in with the Mekons style. It also gives it a real concept album feel as a gorgeous melody like “A Horse Has Escaped” will follow a rocker like “Nightcrawlers”. In many ways, it’s a sound that’s identifiable as that critically acclaimed 80s band- jumping from sound to sound on each song throwing in elements and instruments like rock, reggae, violin, folk, dub, angular pop, waltz, accordion, and even whistling where it is appropriate. Not that far underneath is that late 70s punk band- the one that pops up from time to time, like it did in 2004 when the band re-recorded their early tunes for the album titled “Punk Rock”. You can find 16th Century British Politics and the Irish Famine and modern climate change. In other words, things you can only find in this combination on a Mekons record.
I spent a lot of time with this album and in a pop world where surprisingly there doesn’t seem to be that much politically themed music these days. I am happy to see the Mekons deliver an album this powerful. The early reviews I saw were average or below, but I tend to think that is partially due to the fact that the Mekons are one of those artists that will have a Rohrsach Test effect on its listeners. What you get depends on what you are looking for from the band. (To be fair, a wave of more positive reviews have since rolled in) I find this album particularly accessible and with a political punk edge that speaks to me more than a lot of their recent work.
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